Something Different  psh that's for sure
by Trapped In Narnia
Summary: Your skin crawls as somebody watches you. You're alone, and you will be forever, because you're not entirely human. A mistake, an experiment. But what if, you're not as alone as you thought? Join Jay for a wild adventure of love, loss, family, and revenge
1. Prologue

Prologue

I'd heard rumors of others like me, but I never knew they were true. My whole life, I'd thought I was alone, the only freak girl with wings in the world. The wings I could stand, if I had just been born with them and raised as a normal person with a normal family who just had a pair of wings to hide under clothes. But I wasn't in a normal family and I knew wouldn't ever be. In fact, if it weren't for TV I probably wouldn't even know they existed.

I'd broken out of the freaking torture-pit of a research facility where I was created two years ago, and let me tell you, living on my own had been no picnic. All you teenagers out there who've wanted to run away and think that it's no biggie, try doing it while being hunted down by wolf-human hybrids called Erasers. If you're picturing Taylor Lautner running after me, you've got another thing coming. Erasers can shift into their more wolfy form, yes, but they're not fully wolfs. It's like something from a nightmare, giant hulking wolfs running on two legs after you, their yellow eyes hungry and crazed with long fangs ready to tear out your throat. They're fast too. _Really_ fast.

For the first year or so (I'm not really sure because I had no way of telling), I lived in treetops, drinking from streams and bathing there too. I learned how to make a fire and how to use said fires to cook squirrels and whatever else I could catch. For you sissies in the back going "_Ewww!_", you try almost starving to death. Bambi begins to look more and more like food. In a way you could say I turned wild in that time, learning to survive like a full bird of prey. But you see, I'm only two percent avian, ninety-eight percent human. How is this possible you say? Ask the mad scientists that created me. One of them got the bright idea to graft avian DNA into a human embryo and look what happened.

If it sounds anywhere close to cool, you've got it all wrong. Scientists aren't nice people. They're power-crazed, selfish, sociopaths. Every day spent in the Institute for Higher Living was Hell. It was... I remember... blinding lights, that overwhelming antiseptic smell... I spent my life either strapped down to an operating table, performing some brutal test, or in a cage. I can't even think about it without my heart racing and feeling like I'm about to throw up.

Anyways, after a while of surviving all alone in the forests of Pennsylvania and then later Virginia, I found out it was possible to live with other people. It was actually easier, because the Erasers seemed a bit more reluctant to change in front of crowds, giving me a chance to run for it if I had to. The problem was finding a place to be without attracting attention. Like I thought I'd hit gold when I found out I was in a fairly populated Virginia city that happened to be next to a huge national park called Wolf Trap (I snickered, picturing an Eraser getting his foot clamped on by a trap if he tried to come after me). It was only after I flew over the town that I realized the houses were HUGE and there was no way I could ever fit in there. Can you imagine a girl that lived in the woods trying to blend in with rich people? Needless to say, I flew on to the next town.

Eventually I decided on Lynchburg. It was perfect; lots of people, not too wealthy, but not too many hobos, and it had many parks, as well as access to the river and mountains if I needed to escape. It's here that the real story begins.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I floated lightly over the trees as the sun went down and landed gracefully on a hiking trail near the city, stretching my fourteen foot wingspan from the long flight. Rolling my shoulders, I tucked my bold sky blue wings against my back. You'd think when making an avian-hybrid they'd go with something a little bigger like an eagle or a hawk or something along those lines. I looked like I had blue jay or blue bird or something like that infused into me. I guess with me they just wanted see if a small bird would still produce a good hybrid. Congrats, science guys! You did it! Whatever.

I really liked my wings though. They were white underneath with flecks of black, the white coming through on top some too. Just like a blue jay's wings, only MUCH bigger. Sighing and adjusting my backpack I had stolen while some kid was talking to her friend, I headed into the city, hopes high. There was a newspaper bin outside a coffee shop, and curious, I grabbed one and sat down. Apparently it was May 20th and the paper was raving about an upcoming air show. Ha, they thought planes flying in loops was an air show spectacular. That's not even really flying, it's being propelled by a jet engine through the air. They didn't really know flying until they'd used their own two wings. Oops! Guess that wasn't happening.

I glanced around, wondering what to do next. My stomach was snarling at me, but I had no money and no means of getting any. You can't exactly pick up a job application. Education: none. Past experience: none. References: none. Home address: none. Email: none. Phone number: none. Honestly, I had nothing but two changes of clothes (including the one I was wearing) that I had bought using money that was in the bottom of the backpack. I frowned, thinking I might have to go dumpster diving after McDonald's closed. It sounds gross, but everything they don't sell at the end of the day they throw away, wrapped up and everything. It's perfectly fine.

Just then, something shiny caught my eye. A lonely quarter stared up at me from the curb of the street. Heck yes! That quarter meant a clean change of clothes to me. Immediately, I made a beeline for the laundromat (that I found after some wandering around aimlessly). Inside, I tore open the backpack and plucked the crumpled wads of clothes from it and tossed them into the washer. Inserting my only quarter into the machine, the clothes began to toss in foamy water and yet again I had nothing to do but sit and watch the clothes go around in circles.

Right then, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. You know the feeling, like somebody's watching you? I got that feeling too often. When you're on the run, you kinda have to be hypervigilant. I whirled, slightly crouched, ready to jump and fly if I needed to, but I didn't see any Erasers. Not even any guys, and all Erasers were boys so far that I had seen. Just two girls who looked like they could be my age (not that I looked my age. For some reason I was taller than your average fifteenish year old girl. I'd say I looked more sixteen or seventeen. I say fifteenish though because there is no way I could know my birthday, but I was pretty sure of the year I was created, just from hearing scientists talk about it). The girls appeared to be identical twins, almost mirror images of each other right from their dirty brown hair down to their torn up jeans. The only real difference between them was that one had dark bruises on the left side of her face, another had scabbed-over scrapes on her arms, red around them like healing bruises. They watched me suspiciously and I returned the gaze. Feeling uncomfortable, I turned around and sat on a bench, counting the number of times the washer spun, just to get my mind off of the twins.

Eighty-six spins later, the twin with the bruises on her face stepped in front of me. Slowly I look up at her damaged face and into her sea-green eyes. She smiled weakly at me. "Hey," she said in a sweet voice. "Are you alright?"

_She_ was asking _me_ if I was alright? "I'm fine," I muttered, glancing away.

"What's your name?" she asked smiling at me. I looked back up at her. What was with the 20 Questions? Was she with the Institute? No, she couldn't possibly be, she was too young. "Er..." My name? Uh, I'd never had one. Never needed one. 'Course I couldn't tell her that. The thought of my wings popped into my head and I blurted out, "Jay."

Well it wasn't very original but it was kinda cool. "I like your name. I'm Sara, and that's my sister, Tara." Tara was leaning against their spinning washer on the other side of the room, glaring at her twin. Way to roll out the welcome wagon.

"What's her problem?" I asked cautiously.

Sara shrugged. "She doesn't really like making new friends." Well I understood that. I think I was more understanding of Tara even though I'd never even talked to her. Just then my washer buzzed signaling the end of the cycle. I opened its door and removed my wet clothes, looking at the dryer but knowing I didn't have another quarter. I opened my backpack to stuff them back in there when Sara held out a quarter to me. "Need this?"

I took it tentatively. "Thanks," I said, slipping it and the clothes into the dryer.

"Where do you live?" she asked.

I almost laughed and suppressed the urge to say 'Nowhere' but instead kept my composure and said "I'm just passing through."

She opened her mouth like she was going to ask something else, when Tara appeared beside her and said, "Well it was nice to meet you, Jay, but we really have to go." Huh. She must have really good hearing. Like really good...

Sara looked at her sadly, but her sister didn't waver. They picked up their laundry bags and made their way towards the door. Sara called over her shoulder, "See you around, Jay!"

I hoped she was wrong. I watched them until I couldn't see them in the window anymore. My mind replayed the conversation over and over. How weird.

After my clothes were dry and back in my backpack with my knife and blanket, the sky had turned to dark indigo velvet, tiny silver stars one by one beginning to appear. By this time my stomach was about to eat itself, so I went around the backs of the few restaurants that were closed this early, and sure enough, found a large supply of good food sitting right on the top of the trash pile in the dumpster. I know it came from a dumpster, but God did it smell good!

I wolfed down the food that was there and wasn't really hungry anymore, so I figured it was time to find a place to sleep. I was pretty beat; it seemed like that day had gone on for a week. I was walking towards a nearby park when I saw two backpacked figures up ahead, silhouetted by streetlights. They stayed in perfect step, and I almost groaned aloud when they stepped into the light.

At that moment, Sara and Tara turned their heads at the same time and saw me behind them, Sara smiling slightly, Tara frowning slightly. Their similarity was so plainly evident, but differences subtly showing the more I saw them. Sara waved me over, and Tara side stepped to make room for me between them. I wasn't all that comfortable with being sandwiched between two strangers, even though I knew I could take both of them if it came to that, so I stood on the other side of Sara. "Are you going home?" I asked, seeing possible accommodations for the night.

"No," Tara answered plainly. "We're going for a walk around the park."

"Oh," I said, suppressing a sigh. That meant I'd either have to pick a new park to sleep in or stay up later. "Me too," I said, deciding it might be good to get to know these girls. They could help me find my way around the town at least. _Just be careful not to tell them too much_, I reminded myself.

We had just reached the entrance to the park when a large black car came screeching around the corner of the closest intersection. I didn't take the time to wait and see who got out. I just took off running. To my surprise, so did Tara and Sara. We tore down the pathway, just as I heard snarls and guns loading behind us. At this point, I really didn't care who was around. I whipped out my wings and beat down hard, lifting myself into the air, racing upward into the night sky. All I could hear was my heart and my heavy breathing and... bullets? Yes bullets whistling past my ear and all around me. My pulse quickened, turning my blood to ice in my veins. Adrenaline kicked in and I picked up the pace, easily breaking a hundred miles an hour.

Wait... bullets! Crap! They had guns and I had just left Sara and Tara to get away. Oh well, they'd be okay. The Erasers weren't interested in normal people. They'd be alright. They would... I concentrated on the beat of my wings and the sound of the air rushing around them. Up, down, up, down, up, down, one, and, two, and, three, and, four, and. The swish of my feathers against each other was comforting, and soon I couldn't hear bullets or shouts from below. Swish...swish...swish...swish...swish-swish-swish... What? Immediately I looked behind me. Something was throwing off the rhythm. It sounded like...but it couldn't be...no...


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Flying in a tight triangle formation behind me, Sara and Tara beat their wings in tandem. Yes, people, I said their _wings_. No wonder I got that weird feeling around them! They were hybrids too! Glancing down at the ground, we were over the mountains now, far away from the city. I arced downward and dived to the ground, pulling out just in time to land on a thick tree branch. The twins landed in front of me, and for the first time I got a good look at their wings. Sara's were white with splashes, almost brushstrokes of black across them. Tara's wings were black as pitch, tiny flecks of white covering them like stars. I glared at both of them with folded arms, but I couldn't seem to process a single coherent thought, except... "WHAT?"

I had thought I was alone, wandering aimlessly and running at the same time, searching for who knows what. I guess you never really know what you're searching for in your life until you find it. I wanted to be shocked and just dumfounded but something inside me wouldn't let me. There was a warmth somehow, blooming like a rose in my chest. Some question I hadn't known I'd been trying to answer until it came to me. I wasn't alone. Somebody else was on my side, and... maybe I wasn't so much of a freak, an experiment after all. Sara was smiling at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. "How long have you been like this?"

"All thirteen years of our lives," Sara answered, her smile fading. "We came from a lab very far away, in Arizona I think? It was called The School..." She shuddered. "You?"

"The Institute for Higher Living, in New York," I answered shuttering as well. "I'm fifteen."

Tara, who had been watching the stars instead of our conversation, asked darkly, "Do you think there are others like us?" Her gaze was so unfocused and calm, I wondered what she was thinking about.

"I used to think there weren't. That I was just a one-time experiment, like all the other mutants, but here you are. Do you think...that's why they called me Subject Seven? You think there are at least six other bird-kids out there?" I asked, gazing up at the moon myself.

"They called us Subjects Ten and Eleven. So there must be at least eight other avian-hybrids, if our basis is right," Sara thought out loud. "Hey, Jay, are we going to fly together now? Like a flock of birds?"

"Huh. That's a good way to put it. We're a...flock...now." It was kinda funny and kinda cool at the same time. It would be so fun! Like having...friends! Real friends! Like on TV! (If you're wondering how I know what's on TV it's because you can watch it online. Like on computers and stuff? And you can do that for free in libraries.) So now there was the small question of, where to? I guess we could fly south, maybe shoot for Atlanta-

"Guys!" Tara blinked, coming back to reality and whirling to face us. "There are at least eight others out there that are like us! At _least._"

"Yeah," I said uncomprehendingly. "So?"

"Don't you see? We should find them! We'd be unstoppable! Eleven or more mutants together, we could stop those whitecoats once and for all. We'd be like a Super-Flock!" Tara explained enthusiastically.

"That's...actually a good idea. Actually, that's a _really_ good idea!" I thought aloud, smiling at the picture of all the whitecoats running around screaming like ants when you step on their dirt mound. That, my friends, is a magical thing called Karma.

"Great! We could just fly back to the Institute and bust them out and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I stopped her. "It's not _that_ good of an idea. We escaped. Who's to say the others didn't? They could be _anywhere_. And plus we can't just barge into the Institute. That thing is guarded more heavily than you can imagine. We'd need a Super-Flock just to be able to _make_ a Super-Flock." I couldn't help feeling bad about it, watching their faces fall, but they just didn't understand. They hadn't grown up there. Hadn't seen the Erasers on each hallway, the cameras on each wall, hadn't had a gun pulled on them from every scientist in the building, just to do what they were told. They hadn't watched the heavy foot-thick doors slide closed and locked so fast it was unbelievable. They didn't know how hopeless that place was. It was a miracle I escaped that nightmare.

"Look," I announced, stepping up and taking control of the situation. "It's a nice thought, but chances are we'll never find another bird kid. If we do, awesome. But for now, I say we head south."

"Why?" Sara questioned, a quizzical look on her face.

"Why not?" I retorted. "Besides it's warm and away from both the School and the Institute. Everyone cool with that?" Nods from both twins. "Good. Now get your sleep. We've got a long flight ahead of us tomorrow...uh, now that there's more of us, we should probably take turns watching for Erasers. I guess I'll go first. So when I feel like I can't stay awake anymore, I'll wake up you, Sara, and then when you're about to fall asleep you wake up Tara, and so on. Got it?"

Tired murmurs of agreement. Gradually the twins picked branches and drifted into sleep, their constant deep breathing a way to measure the time. I glanced around, my hypersensitive ears on full alert. I gazed up at the moon, glowing in the darkness, a beacon of silver light. How many others were there like us? Could it be true? Eight others? More maybe? Would we ever find another? We'd fly all day tomorrow, this I was sure of. Maybe the hours of time together would help the flock get to know each other. Would they trust me enough to talk to me?

As it turned out, this was _not_ the right question to be asking. The question was, would they ever _stop_ talking. Well Sara at least. Tara had the right mind to only speak when spoken to, except for interjecting thoughts every now and then into Sara's stories.

"...and that's how we escaped the School," Sara finished, running a hand through her wavy brown hair. Believe it or not, she was actually a pretty dang good story-teller. She really got into it. She was one of those people you'd expect to find dressed up in costumes at bookstores reading to kids. Which wasn't actually a bad idea, that was totally something Sara would do. The sunlight glinted off her white feathers, almost shining through them in a way that kind of made them appear to glow as they worked to keep her in the air. However they weren't working quite as hard as ours, and she was falling out of formation. "Hey, Sara, keep up," I called to her.

"Sorry," she murmured, catching up. "I'm exhausted."

"Trouble sleeping?"

"No. Tara just didn't want to wake up so I took her watch." I glared at Tara, who was suddenly really interested in the land beneath us.

"If that happens again, wake me up instead. I'll handle it." Tara made no comment so I changed the subject. "Sara, how'd you get those bruises?"

She glanced away. "Well, I guess I kinda left this part out of the story. You see, when we were escaping the School, one of the Erasers came, like, out of nowhere and caught me. He threw me against the wall and started hitting me over and over again... the next thing I knew I was laying in the grass with Tara leaning over me." The twins looked at each other and half-smiled. You could almost feel the love passing between them.

Tara spoke up then. "I saw that monster attacking her, but a whitecoat behind me had his gun aimed at my head. I spun and knocked it out of his hand just as Sara collapsed unconscious. That demon was bent over her, claws ready to rip out her throat and I just fired. I killed him. He morphed back into a human as the blood ran out of him... I couldn't believe what I had done, but there was no time. My sister was still out cold and her face was already purple, so I grabbed her and ran.

It's not easy, trying to run and carry a person that weighs as much as you do, but something kept me going. Erasers were chasing me and with Sara I could barely outrun them. They kept swiping at me, cutting up my back and legs, but somehow I got out. Just when I thought we were safe and put Sara down, an Eraser jumped out from hiding and lunged for me. I turned, but not quick enough and blood came racing down my arm. I picked up Sara faster than he could predict what I was doing, and took off, carrying her in the air. The pain was maddening, and it was literally all I could do to hold on to her and stay in the air. By some miracle, we made it away from there and I was able to kinda bandage my arm. It was a while before she woke up, but honestly for a while there I didn't know if she would. You have no idea what that feels like. To even think that you might lose your twin that way."

Heavy silence hung in the air between us, the weight of it pressing down into me. The love between them was warm, but the thought of Sara dying... it almost hurt, and not necessarily because it was a scary thought. I mean it was a scary thought, but that's not what made my chest grow so tight I had a hard time breathing. It was the thought that I'd never had someone to love like they loved each other. There was nobody to mourn for me if I died. Nobody loved me the way the twins loved each other. Nobody loved me at all. I murmured, "I'm glad you two have each other."

"Are you okay, Jay?" Sara called worriedly.

I wiped my hand over my eyes just to make sure my face was dry. "I'm fine."

We had flown for a good four hours straight (we left pretty late, taking some time to make one stop for food and bathroom breaks) when we finally landed, or crashed is more accurate, onto a tree branch, almost to Georgia. We all just lay there for a minute, breathing heavily, wings hanging down beneath us trying to get some feeling back in them. "Who wants first watch?" I half-groaned.

The twins didn't respond. I turned my head to look at them. "Guys?" Sara breathed heavily, almost sighing. My eyes narrowed and I sighed, beyond exasperated. Dang new flock members thought they could just fall asleep... "No, really guys, you get some rest, I'll take first watch. Don't mind me, I just flew more than 400 miles, no biggie." I muttered sarcastically to nobody.

I propped myself up against the tree trunk and stared at the starry sky. Was it just me, or are there more stars when you're away from big cities? The sky was so big, never-ending, so... infinite. In such a big world, it made me feel so small.

I let my mind wander, just drift in, out, and among half-focused pictures and incoherent thoughts. A cool breeze caressed me and smoothed my feathers in that light way that felt like a tender touch. Everything grew fuzzy and it hurt to keep my eyes open. Right before I fell asleep, I shook Tara, my speech slurred from exhaustion. "Tarawaykuuup...cmoooonpleeease..." She finally blinked awake, cursing under her breath. I barely heard her though, I was out the second I laid my head down.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sara woke me up to take over watch just as a line of red appeared along the horizon. Yawning, I stretched my arms out above my head. I rolled my head and stretched my wingspan. For some reason I had the worst taste in my mouth... Weird. Well, I was up and was going to stay up, so I figured I might as well do the twins a kindness and make them breakfast. 'Cause that's just the caring little bird-girl I am.

Seeing as we were in the middle of a forest reserve or something though, there wasn't exactly a restaurant out in the middle of the forest with a big flashing sign saying "Free food here!" So, as I had done so many times in the past, I was forced to make do with what Mother Nature provided. I grabbed my knife from my backpack and looked down at the ground so far below my branch, staying perfectly still, closing my eyes and slowing my heartbeat. I listened as hard as my hypersensitive ears could listen. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. _Snap._ My eyes flew open and I threw myself off the branch, snapping my blue wings open, taking to the air like I owned it.

I soared low over the treetops, watching the ground between the flashes of leaves that came so quickly, it was like watching the ground in an old film. Nothing, nothing, nothing...wait, yes! I had the faintest crack, something stepping on a leaf? I kept flying low, scanning the forest floor until... bam! My raptor vision caught a wild boar snooping in the woods. I shrugged. Bacon is bacon, no matter how hard it is to get. Quietly I folded my wings and dropped in a divebomb, plunging straight towards the pig. One can't help but love that rush you get when freefalling to the earth at almost two hundred miles an hour. Don't you just love snapping your wings out at the last moment and speeding off... sorry. I keep forgetting you guys are normal.

Well anyways, I caught myself at the last moment, following the pig, which was now running for his life. I was speeding above him, trying to watch him and the trees popping in front of me so fast I couldn't blink. It was a game, a test of reflexes, those trees, and I knew how to avoid running into them. I dropped down onto the squealing boar and ended his misery quickly with a hard slash across his throat. The first time I think I actually let my animal go, not able to kill it. The next day I was more starving than the day before though, and I quickly learned how to kill animals and not feel it. Meat is, after all, a necessary part of life for us hybrids. It's protein and calories combined into one, two things we could never seem to get enough of.

Next was another hard part. Skinning and slicing the kill. I won't go into the details, but let's say it's not a clean job, but I was so used to it that blood only got on my hands, which were quickly washed in a nearby brook. I built a fire near our tree (the twins were still asleep) and broke sticks to stretch a thinly sliced slab of meat across the flames. I put a handful of water on top of the meat, as well as some plants I knew to make wonderful herbs when torn up. After a couple of minutes the meat began to cook, the delicious aroma wafting upward with the smoke, waking the twins to a beautiful sunrise and the scent of breakfast in their lungs. I know, I'm too nice.

Tara rolled over, the action dumping her off the branch, and she fell about forty feet before landing gracefully on her feet. "Is that bacon?" she asked as I flipped it over on the fire.

"Sort of," I said cheerfully, the smell of cooking meat making my mouth water.

"Where'd you get _that_?" Sara said dropping in beside me.

"Don't ask, just eat." And it was freaking _delicious!_ Definitely some of the best wild hog I'd ever made. It was soft but had a little crunch, sweet and tender with a bit of aftertaste... YUM! We ate _so_ much and when it was gone, there was still more meat I had sliced so we cooked more and ate that too. High five for Food Network; Bird-Girl Edition! After we had eaten 'til we all felt nice and full, we took running starts for the last leg of our journey, which would take...eh, I'd say about twenty minutes. Tops.

Twenty wind-blown, energy-pumped, high-speed minutes later, we were soaring over the glistening metropolis that was Atlanta. "It's so _big!_" Sara exclaimed. "I can still see it in, like, every direction!" Indeed it was HUGE, but not so much as say New York city or anything like that. By the time the sky was blue as my wings, we were sitting on top of a skyscraper, dangling our feet over the edge of the roof and admiring the height. Most people wouldn't go anywhere near where we were unless they were suicidal, but then we weren't most people. The busy people below were ants and we were so high we could almost touch the clouds without a single flap of our wings.

It was so nice. Maybe we could fly to the mountains and live up high for a- "Hey, you girls! Wh-what are you doing? Get away from there!"

I sighed. Can't a girl catch a break? A casual glance over my shoulder revealed a guy about eighteen in a uniform from the maintenance team of the building we were sitting on. I looked him over, casually disinterested. "Or what?"

He breathed heavily, looking around him, almost like he was scared. Scared of us? He should be, but we had our wings tucked away so we looked perfectly normal. Why was he scared then? "I'll-I-I'll-Don't make me come over there!"

I smirked a little. "Sorry, how inconsiderate of me, care to join us?" I asked, patting the roof next to me. Don't worry, I knew he wouldn't come.

"You-you girls get away from there right now or I'll make you!"

I shrugged. "By all means, make us!" He sucked in a deep breath and inched his way, about a foot closer to us and paused, breathing deeply.

"What's the matter?" I asked quizzically, with a sarcastic edge. "Afraid of heights?" I stood up, my eyes challenging him. I stood maybe an inch away from a drop that must have been about a thousand feet. The wind picked up, and at this height it kind of made all of us sway. It blew my layered straight black hair into my eyes, and I tucked it back behind my ear. The twins stood on either side of me, following my lead.

Weenie over here, crept his way another foot closer, still breathing deeply. "Now, girls, calmly walk towards me, very carefully, and everything will be okay."

I cocked my head to the side. "Wait a minute, I thought you were coming to get us?"

"Miss, this is no time for games. Please come away from the ledge."

"Nah. I'm good." Weenie was just out of arms reach from us now and I figured it was time to go. "Well, as much as I'd love to stick around and wait for you to finally get the guts to walk across a roof, we've got places to go, people to meet. But it was nice meeting you!"

And just like that, I fell backwards. Like a trust fall, except there was a thousand foot drop and nobody there to catch me. I just leaned backwards and for a second just dropped, watching the people below grow bigger. I could hear weenie-watchman's voice scream "NO!" as I first fell away, but soon the sound was ripped from my ears and replaced with the rush of wind and beat of my heart. I briefly wondered what all the business people from the building thought as they looked out over the city and suddenly three girls dropped past their window. Just another crazy day at the office, I guess.

When I decided we'd fallen far enough, I whipped out my wings and caught the updraft from the city, soaring high against the sun. My wings filled like sails and lifted me upward, to the clouds and higher. As we leveled with the roof we had fallen off of, I caught the maintenance guy's eye as he gawked at us all. I shrugged in an _I-told-you-so_ manner and Sara waved happily. He watched us fly higher, the twins rising steadily behind me. God, flying's such a rush.

As we flew, music drifted up to us, and granted how far up we were, it must have been some pretty loud music. The acute hearing didn't hurt either. Glancing down, lights were flashing on the ground, a massive crowd of people huddled around what looked like a stage. Sara gasped, "Oh oh! It's a concert! Jay, can we go? _Please?_"

I shrugged. "Eh, we've got nothing better to do. It could be fun. Let's find a safe place to land."

We landed in an alleyway, careful not to let anyone see us. Tucking my wings in, I ducked around the corner and almost turned around left. The crowd could have filled a college football stadium, including the field, maybe even more than that. As if that weren't bad enough, everyone was moving, a sea of people packed together and swaying, jumping, or dancing all at the same time. If ever there existed a literal wall of flesh, this was it.

Something changed that I couldn't put my finger on, and suddenly everyone in the crowd started screaming at once. Crap! What now? I crouched, wings flexed inside my clothes, ready to spring up and fly as my eyes scanned the massive crowd. But then I realized what had changed. The music had stopped playing. They were changing songs. I let out a sigh of relief and straightened up. God, these crowds would be the death of me.

"I love this song! C'mon!" Sara enthused, snatching my wrist and yanking me forward. A giant beautiful grin covered her face as she elbow-swum through the sea of dancing figures. I wanted to resist her and run the opposite direction, getting as far away from all these strangers as possible, but seeing that light in Sara's eyes as she jumped to the beat of the music….I just couldn't. Even Tara seemed to be enjoying herself, actually smiling and swaying, singing even. Sometimes you gotta take one for the team.

I tried scanning the crowd, but there were just too many. Too many faces to possibly read each one. Suddenly the crowd went wild, and my attention went to the stage this time. The girl and guy singing had linked arms while still holding their microphones, holding out a long note in harmony. The guy playing guitar slid forward on his knees as they let go of the note, blaring out a complicated solo as girls screamed and reached out towards him as if his touch would complete their lives. I had to admit, the speed of his fingers moving along the neck of his guitar was pretty dang impressive. I caught my foot tapping out the rhythm, and actually found myself yelling "Go weirdly-tattooed guitar-guy!"

As soon as I yelled this, somebody laid a hand on my shoulder, grabbing it to turn me around. My heart froze and picked up to an unbelievable rate, as my nightmares came true. They'd found us.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I whirled, spinning the arm, ready to snap it, as I swung my leg out low, knocking my aggressor down to the ground. Using the arm, I spun them over, face to the ground while everyone stared. "What the heck are you doing?" said a high voice from underneath me. Wait, high voice? Oh crap…

I was holding a girl. Erasers weren't girls. I let her up, smiling apologetically. "Sorry… I thought you were…somebody else!" I yelled over the music.

She got to her feet and glared me down. "I was _trying_ to tell you that 'guitar-guy' has a name! His name is Derek and his tattoos aren't weird! His skin is a work of art! You've got some nerve, coming to one of his concerts without even knowing his name, and then pinning his future-wife to the ground. I should totally kick you out of this place! You don't _deserve_ to witness his art! Derek is a music GOD!"

I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing, doubled over. What made it even funnier was, she was _serious!_ Said it with a straight face and everything! Ahahahaha oh gosh, she literally worshipped a guitar player. I turned back to the stage and yelled, trying to keep a straight face, "Go guitar-God-guy Derek whose skin is a work of art and has an overly-obsessive fan club!"

Again, I felt a hand on my shoulder, trying to turn me around. "Excuse me?" cried Obsessed-Fan-Girl. "We are his best friends, always there for Derek! He and I are going to get married, and I've already picked out everything from the ring to the cake and the dress and the venue!"

"Obsessed much?" I said turning away. Once again, her hand appeared on my shoulder. Okay, as entertaining as crazed fan girls are, it was kind of getting annoying.

"I'm not done talking to you! We are his support! We are his family! Not that _you'd_ know anything about that! You're just a dirty nobody!" she yelled, her face turning as pink as her shirt. Please. C'mon, was she serious? Yep. Oh _come on._ "You don't even know me! Stay away from me, you freak!" I walked forward a bit, shoving to stand next to Tara and Sara, who were still having a wonderful time, completely unaware of how crazy the people around them were. I smiled a bit. At least they were enjoying themselves. They deserved to have some fun.

I rolled my eyes as I felt a hand on my shoulder again. I whirled, beyond exasperated by this point. "What part of 'Stay away from me' is so hard to-" I stopped midsentence. All my muscles locked down. Instead of the annoying fan girl looking back at me, a hulking guy with yellowish eyes grinned at me. "Tag," he growled. "You're it."

I whirled to run, but he caught my arm and slung me to the ground. "SARA! TARA! RUN!" I screamed to them as the concert played out around us. Their acute hearing was probably the only thing that allowed them to hear me over the music. They whirled to face me as other Erasers began to emerge from the crowd. I picked myself up as fast as I could and disappeared into the crowd, shoving people out of the way. A quick glance behind me revealed both twins right with me, agilely weaving their way through the maze of people. Behind us, people screamed as the Erasers threw them out of the way, snarling but not morphing as they chased us. Must not have wanted to make any more of a scene than they already had.

My heart raced, and I found myself gasping for breath, trying desperately to escape the never-ending sea of people. My wings ached to stretch and fly, but there were just too many people around. They all blurred together as we fought our way through the crowd. My long hair whipped behind me, and almost blocked my view as I glanced back behind me, the Erasers shoving their way through the crowd. Suddenly I burst out of the crowd and broke away in a headlong sprint, giving every ounce of adrenaline over to my feet, my speed pouring into the pavement beneath me as we fled to the city walkways. "Let's lose them!" I cried, ducking quickly behind a corner into an alleyway between two tall buildings.

It was dark in the building's shadows, but there were puddles of god-knows-what on the concrete and we made noise sloshing through them. "Left!" I yelled as we came to a fork in the alley, the right side with water, the left without. I could no longer hear the snarls behind us, but that only set me more on edge. They could be anywhere.

We rounded another corner, my pulse pounding in my ears, jittery with adrenaline. Suddenly I realized the alley was getting wider. Wide enough for our wingspan actually…. Rounding one more corner, I almost stopped in my tracks. There was a building in the way, and we couldn't turn around. I could hear the Eraser's snarls, see their morphed wolfy shadows around the corner. Making a snap decision, I raced for the door to the building, praying for an escape. "Dang!" I cried as the knob refused to move; it was locked. Now what, Jay? Think fast! The Erasers were already racing down the alley towards me!

"Up!" I screamed, snapping out my wings and racing towards the giant monsters, growling and hungry for us. I leaped up before their long jaws could reach me, pumping hard with my wings, feeling air rush around me, feeling freedom-

Before I could blink something wrapped around my foot and threw me into a wall, my head cracking first against the cement wall, and then again on the pavement as I plummeted towards, it. Pain seared from my head and I couldn't see momentarily. I groaned, color blurring together as I tried to feel my wings and get to my feet. Out of nowhere something hit my chest like a wrecking ball, slamming me against the wall and knocking away all of my breath in one large gust. I collapsed on the ground, coughing and gasping for breath, every action sending pain into my core. "Jay!" I heard a voice scream. I blinked, but everything was still blurry, slowly getting better though.

I heard a gun cock and I was able to get a general feel of where my attacker was. I swept my feet low, pulling his feet out from under him, scrambling to my feet while keeping one hand on the wall for support. I could now make out the general outlines, including that of the enormous wolf getting up from the ground, his gun in his right hand. At least, I thought it was his right hand…

Whirling, I chopped the gun out of his hand, hearing it skid across the pavement. Too bad I couldn't see the Eraser's foot though, as it smashed into my side and threw me against the wall again. I couldn't help screaming as my head felt like it was being sliced open with an ax and my chest had acid dumped into it. I dropped down to the pavement, gasping and coughing, every vibration in my body setting my brain on fire. I looked up, and thought for sure my vision was forever gone when a fifteen-foot literally golden eagle dropped off of the building above us, plummeting a downward strike right at the unsuspecting Eraser that was attacking me. Both of its feet connected with the Eraser's head and neck, twisting it the wrong way and sending a sickening snap… wait….its feet? Eagles don't have feet… ugh my vision was so messed up. I saw the… sigh…the I guess it was an eagle bigger than one of us, lean over it and say "That's who we do it in the south!" I was clearly insane. I clambered to my feet, making out either Sara or Tara (I couldn't really tell) fighting two Erasers at once, moving quickly to dodge all blows and still trying to land some. I staggered over, blinking rapidly to try and clear my vision, but it wasn't helping much.

I whipped out a kick at one of the wolf's sides, sending him face-first into the wall. I caught his arm as he tried to punch me and twisted it back behind him, sending my knee into his back to get him down on the ground. Unfortunately, he outweighed me by about two hundred pounds, and when he rolled over to throw me off, I got pinned to the ground beneath him. He grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the pavement, right in the same place as before. Not once but over and over, pain overriding everything else, searing into my skull. I groaned as my vision clouded with black, and I heard Tara and Sara's voices in the same scared tone yell "JAY!"


End file.
